Chick culling or unwanted chick killing is the process of separating and killing unwanted (male and unhealthy female) chicks for which the intensive animal farming industry has no use. It occurs widely in industrialised egg production, whether free range, organic, or battery cage. However, some certified egg farms are eliminating the practice using in-ovo sexing. Worldwide, billions of male chicks are culled each year in the egg industry. Male chicks of meat breeds and dual-purpose breeds are typically spared.
Due to modern selective breeding, laying hen strains differ from meat production strains (broilers). In the United States, males are culled in egg production because males "don't lay eggs or grow large enough to become broilers." Because male chickens do not lay eggs and only those in breeding programmes are required to fertilise eggs, they are considered redundant to the egg-laying industry and are usually killed shortly after being sexed, which occurs just days after they are conceived or after they hatch. Some methods of culling that do not involve anaesthetics include cervical dislocation, asphyxiation by carbon dioxide, and maceration using a high-speed grinder. Maceration is the primary method in the United States. Maceration is often a preferred method over carbon dioxide asphyxiation in western countries as it is often considered as "more humane" due to the deaths occurring immediately or within a second.
Ducklings and goslings are also culled in the production of foie gras. However, because males gain more weight than females in this production system, the females are culled, sometimes in an industrial macerator. The remains of female ducklings are later used in cat food, and fertilisers. In total, billions of male chicks and up to 40 million female ducks per year may be killed in this way.
Because of animal welfare concerns, there is societal opposition to chick culling. In the 2010s, scientists developed technologies to determine the sexes of chicks when they are still in their eggs (in-ovo sexing) as an alternative to culling. Germany and France jointly became the first countries in the world to prohibit all chick killing from 1 January 2022, and called on other EU member states to do the same. Italy approved a law to ban the practice by the end of 2026.
History
Prior to the development of modern broiler meat breeds, chickens were largely dual-purpose breeds, with most male chickens (cockerels) slaughtered for meat, and females (pullets) kept for egg production. However, once the industry successfully bred separate meat and egg-producing hybrids—starting in the 1920s and 1930s—there was no reason to keep males of the egg-producing hybrid. As a consequence, the males of egg-laying chickens are killed as soon as possible after hatching and sexing to reduce financial losses incurred by the breeder. Special techniques have been developed to accurately determine the sex of chicks at as young an age as possible.
In November 2018, the "world's first industry-scale production no-kill eggs" were sold to the public in Berlin, Germany.
Nowadays, there are commercialized technologies that detect the sex of a chicken embryo within the egg, called in-ovo sexing. These technologies such as Respeggt, In Ovo, Orbem, and CHEGGY, are gaining traction across Europe as they perform the sexing before the embryo can feel any pain.
Methods
Several methods are used to cull chicks: Maceration (also called 'grinding', 'shredding' or 'mincing'); the chicks are placed into a large high-speed grinder. Asphyxiation (also called 'gassing' or 'controlled atmosphere killing'); carbon dioxide is used to induce unconsciousness and then death. Cervical dislocation; the neck is broken. Electrocution; an electric current is passed through the chick's body until it is dead.Humane Killing of Male Chicks at the Laying Branch. Suffocation; the chicks are placed in plastic bags.
Permitted methods in the EU Authorised procedures for killing chicks have been harmonised within the European Union. The regulations initiated in 1976 evolved in 1993, the first directive to specifically take chicks into account. A new directive was adopted in 2009, enacted on 1 January 2013 (replacing the 1993 directive) and last updated on 14 December 2019: "Use of a mechanical apparatus causing rapid death" (essentially grinding) "Exposure to carbon dioxide" (essentially gassing)
Recommended methods and standards in the US and Canada The American Veterinary Medical Association (AMVA) "Euthanasia" methods include: cervical dislocation, maceration, and asphyxiation by carbon dioxide.
In Canada, the National Farm Animal Care Council (Conseil National Pour Les Soins Aux Animaux D'Elevage) publishes the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens and Turkeys, (2016, amended from time to time), which is mentioned in the Health of Animals Regulations section 72.5(1) as the requirements and industry standards that must be met. The "code" defines the euthanasia as the "ending of life [...] in a way that minimizes pain and distress[..] and is characterized by rapid, irreversible unconsciousness [...] followed by prompt death" and adds that protocols including "irreversible stunning of birds prior to the final kill step may assist in effective euthanasia."
The 2005–2006 AMVA Executive Board proposed a policy change, recommended by the Animal Welfare Committee on the killing of unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs. The policy states: 'Unwanted chicks, poults, and pipped eggs should be killed by an acceptable humane method, such as use of a commercially designed macerator that results in instantaneous death. Smothering unwanted chicks or poults in bags or containers is not acceptable. Pips, unwanted chicks, or poults should be killed prior to disposal. A pipped egg, or pip, is one where the chick or poult has not been successful in escaping the egg shell during the hatching process.' The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Hatching Eggs, Breeders, Chickens and Turkeys, in Canada, lists the acceptable methods under the Appendix B, grouped as recommended on-Farm or at hatcheries, being: Manual euthanasia Non-Penetrating Bolt (farm only), Skull Penetrating Bolt (farm only) Manual Skull fracturing Decapitation Gas Inhalation (Nitrogen (farm only), Carbon Monoxide (farm only), and Carbon Dioxide) Manual Neck Dislocation, Mechanical Neck Dislocation (farm only) Industrial meat Grinders A combination of these methods.
The outcome expected being instantaneous death. For instance, the maceration must be "instantaneous and complete".
US producers announced in 2016 a goal of being able by 2020 to determine the sex of the developing chick long before hatching, so male eggs can be destroyed. However, in January 2020 they stated that killing day-old male chicks remains unavoidable due to the lack of a viable alternative.
Statistics
Worldwide: As of 2015, approximately 7 billion male chicks were culled annually around the world (2015 Poultry Site estimate). Other estimates include 6 billion (June 2016 SMH claim), 4–6 billion chicks (December 2018 The Guardian claim). According to In Ovo cofounder Wouter Bruins in October 2013, the top 20 poultry production countries alone culled 3.2 billion male chicks a year. Australia: more than 12 million male chicks are culled annually (June 2016 estimate). Maceration is the primary method used, but gassing is also used. Belgium: more than 15 million male chicks are culled annually, 40,000 a day (February 2020 estimate). CO2 gassing is the only method used and happens in two stages: chicks are first stunned and then killed. Canada: 22.5 million male chicks are culled annually, nearly 62,000 a day (December 2016 estimate). Czech Republic: 12 million male chicks are killed annually (September 2023), or 13 million (January 2023 estimate). By that time, most hatcheries in Czechia no longer used maceration, but only asphyxiation with carbon dioxide. Denmark: As of 2024, 'more than three million day-old male layer chicks are culled every year – including those from free-range and organic production systems.' France: Chicken culling is banned in France and about 16 million female ducklings and goslings are culled annually in the foie gras industry. Maceration is the primary method in both industries. Germany: Chicken culling is forbidden in Germany. India: over 180 million male chicks are culled annually (October 2014 estimate). Maceration appears to be the primary method, though suffocation using plastic bags has also been reported. Netherlands: Gassing is the primary method. Estimates of male chicks culled annually: 30 million (June 2008 estimate), 45 million (October 2010 estimate for the year 2009), 45 million (May 2016 estimate), 40 million in 2025, to be reduced to 33 million in 2026 (February 2025 estimate). New Zealand: 2.5 million (April 2001 estimate) to 3 million (June 2016 estimate) male chicks are culled annually. Maceration is the primary method. Norway: Over 3.5 million day-old male chicks are killed annually (2023 estimate), with maceration being the most common method. Poland: 40 million chicks are killed in Poland each year in the first three days of their lives because of their gender (2024 estimate). Spain: 35 million male chicks are culled annually (March 2020 estimate, February 2022 estimate). Asphyxiation is the common method; shredding (maceration) is not used in Spain. Sweden: A 2016 Swedish Board of Agriculture report stated: 'In Sweden, 5.6 million laying hens are replaced every year. At the same time, a similar number of cockerels are produced, the vast majority of which are killed and destroyed at hatcheries.' Switzerland: about 3 million male chicks are culled annually (September 2019 estimate). Gassing is the only method used; maceration was prohibited on 1 January 2020, but rarely used before that date. United Kingdom: 30 to 40 million male chicks are culled annually (November 2010 Viva! claim). A November 2010 Telegraph article reported on two undercover operations carried out by animal rights organisation Viva! showing a gassing-method hatchery and a maceration-method hatchery, both located in Preston. Both methods were reportedly 'legal and approved by both the Humane Slaughter Association and the RSPCA', with a British Egg Information Service (BEIS) spokesman saying gassing was used more often than maceration in the UK. In March 2015, a BEIS spokesman insisted that gassing was the only method used in the UK. An April 2025 RSPCA report confirmed this: "It is our understanding that in the UK, all male chicks are currently being killed using argon gas." United States: An average of 350 million newly hatched male chicks are culled annually. Maceration is the primary method.
Controversy and phaseout Animal welfare advocates maintain that many of the current practices surrounding chicken slaughtering are unethical. Animal rights advocates argue that it is wrong to unnecessarily exploit and kill other sentient beings for food production, including chicks.
Scientific research into alternatives (2010s)
Several technologies may obviate chick culling by determining the sex of a chick before hatching. Some of these technologies rely on measuring eggs (through spectroscopy, chemical assays, or imaging); they can determine a chick's sex within 3-13 days of incubation. Some methods require genetic engineering to make male eggs fluorescent. Such methods are attractive not only for ethical reasons but to reduce the costs of employing human cullers and of incubating male eggs. Timothy Kurt, a director from the United States Department of Agriculture, said, "Everyone wants the same thing, and the right piece of technology could solve this right now."